BEATINGS IN SOUTH CAROLINA JAIL SPUR RACIAL TENSION

Special to the New York Times

Published: September 13, 1982

KINGSTREE, S.C., Sept. 9—
When he was elected in 1976 as Williamsburg County's first black sheriff, cigar-smoking, motorcycleriding Theodore McFarlin was one of the most recognizable lawenforcement professionals in this part of South Carolina.

His victory over three opponents, including an incumbent, was regarded as a decisive step toward racial harmony in the farming county of 38,000 people, nearly 70 percent of whom are black.

In recent weeks, however, Sheriff McFarlin has been at the center of a controversy that has revived racial tensions. On Aug. 12, the weekly Kingstree News, with a circulation of 4,300, reported that one white prisoner had been sexually assaulted and two others had been beaten by black inmates at the Williamsburg County Jail the night of Aug. 1. The report, by the newspaper's editor, Bob Gorman, was confirmed Aug. 10 by Sheriff McFarlin and Magistrate R.D. Cantley Jr. and through interviews with two of the victims.

A week later, Mr. Gorman called for the sheriff's resignation in an editorial, saying, ''Time and again he has proved to be incapable of handling the complexities of the position.'' Wedge in Political Struggle

But, for his part, Sheriff McFarlin has said, in a letter responding to the newspaper accounts, ''I would ask the people of Williamsburg County not to jump to conclusions.''

At his request, state investigators began an inquiry Aug. 16. Many whites say the incident is indicative of what they say is the sheriff's incompetence; they also say that this issue might never be addressed because blacks outnumber whites.

''There is no doubt if he were running tomorrow he would win,'' said Wallace Connor, a lawyer. ''White candidates can't get elected here any longer.''

The county's blacks, on the other hand, accuse white leaders of using the incident as a wedge to regain control of one of the county's top offices.

In the same issue with Mr. Gorman's editorial, The News published letters that it said were written by two of the three inmates who were assaulted.

The first letter described a night of beatings and homosexual assaults. The second letter told of being ''knocked back against the far wall; that's where I busted the back of my head.'' The second inmate said he was ''kneed or kicked'' in the groin and ''knocked into a metal table anchored in the bullpen floor,'' striking his head.

Both men said their screams for help were ignored by two jailers on duty. After the newspaper's reports, Sheriff McFarlin stopped talking to reporters on the advice of his attorney. In his letter, he said he did not know about the incident until Aug. 4 because the victims said they had been threatened into silence. He said he interviewed the inmates that afternoon and asked the State Law Enforcement Division to find out ''what really happened.''

Although two of the victims were examined Aug. 6 by Dr. Polycarp K. Gadegbeku, who said he found no bruises or injuries, the town magistrate prepared warrants Aug. 17 against six inmates, charging them with 18 violations, including criminal sexual conduct, aggravated assault and conspiracy.

Sheriff McFarlin suspended the two jailers without pay, and Mayor Homer F. Gamble told the police not to deliver prisoners to the jail until the end of the state inquiry.

Last week Sheriff McFarlin ordered eight new security measures at the jail, including the separation of juveniles and adults, as state law requires.

But most people had already reacted. More than $4,000 in legal fees has been collected for two of the victims, who are considering filing a civil rights suit.

In a letter to the editor published in The News, Jane L. McCrary of Lake City wrote, ''In this particular instance the fact the aggrieved prisoners are white and the alleged assailants are black is apparently being used by some parties to fan the fires of racial conflict.''

But the county's political leaders disagree. They say that the margins of victory in election results indicated that Alex Chatman, the county's first black supervisor, had substantial support from whites and that Mayor Gamble, who is white, was elected because of a large black turnout.

Nevertheless, residents are viewing the assaults as a racial conflict. ''I don't feel responsible leaders of this county of both races have worked for 40 years for peaceful coexistence only to have an incident such as this lend itself to a lynch mob mentality,'' Mayor Gamble said.

''The black community is concerned and the white community is concerned,'' said State Senator Frank McGill of Kingstree. ''People want law and order. I don't think it's a racial or political issue.''

Sheriff McFarlin's stewardship of his office has been a matter of dispute for several years. The sheriff was investigated by a grand jury three times in 1978 and 1979 on allegations of tax evasion, but no indictment was issued.

In June, a State Corrections Department report criticized conditions at the jail. The report said the sheriff had failed to put a ''written classification plan'' into effect, as required by state law, to assign inmates according to sex, age, criminal sophistication and seriousness of their crime. The jail has room for 50 inmates. In the August incident, the three white inmates, who were accused of violation of probation and other relatively minor crimes, were housed with 14 black inmates, some of whom had been accused of serious crimes, including burglary and armed robbery.

''This is where they appear to have gone amiss in Williamsburg,'' said Jim Willis, chief of jail inspections for the Corrections Department. ''We did consider lack of a classification plan a serious deficiency. It's the weak point in that jail.''